Levitical CitiesJoshua 21

Dr. Joseph Chang11/3/2013

BOLGPC

• From Being Cursed • Becoming Others’ Blessings

I. The Prophecy

• Reuben—Control of Lust• Simeon, Levi—Control of Temper• 5"Simeon and Levi are brothers-- their swords are

weapons of violence. 6Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. 7Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel. (Gen 49:5-7)

II. The Story

• Levi had temper problem.• Moses had temper problem.• Moses fled Egypt for killing an Egyptian (Exod

2:12).• Moses was denied the land of Canaan,

because of striking the rock (Num 20:10-12).

II. The Story

• 10He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them." (Num 20:10-12)

II. The Story

• Levites channel their weakness for God’s use.• 19When Moses approached the camp and saw

the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. (Exod 32:19-20)

II. The Story• 25Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron

had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me." And all the Levites rallied to him. 27Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'" 28The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29Then Moses said, "You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day." (Exod 32:25-29)

II. The Story

• 41Take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites. I am the LORD." (Num 3:41)

III. The Fulfillment

• A. Simeon inherited land in the midst of Judah• 1The second lot came out for the tribe of

Simeon, clan by clan. Their inheritance lay within the territory of Judah. . . . 9The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the share of Judah, because Judah's portion was more than they needed. So the Simeonites received their inheritance within the territory of Judah. (Josh 19:1, 9)

III. The Fulfillment

• B. Levites inherited cities among the tribes• 1Now the family heads of the Levites approached

Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribal families of Israel 2at Shiloh in Canaan and said to them, "The LORD commanded through Moses that you give us towns to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock." 3So, as the LORD had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance: (Josh 21:1-3)

III. The FulfillmentLevite Reuben Gad ½Manass

eh-EastJudah

48 ? ? 62 115

Ephraim ½Manasseh-West

Benjamin Simeon Zebulun

? ? 26 17 12

Issachar Asher Naphtali Dan16 22 19 18

Application

• 1Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"-- (Eccl 12:1)

Application

• 1). Do not believe in fate.• 2). Destiny

Dignity, Destiny, Freedom

Dignity, Destiny, Freedom

• The assertion that man is made in God’s image shows each man his true dignity and worth. As God’s image-bearer, he merits infinite respect. God’s claims on us must be taken with total seriousness. No human being should ever be thought of as simply a cog in a machine, or mere means to an end.

Dignity, Destiny, Freedom

• The assertion points also to each man’s true destiny. Our Maker so designed us that our nature finds final satisfaction and fulfillment only in a relationship of responsive Godlikeness—which means, precisely, that state of correspondence between our acts and God’s will which we call obedience. Living that is obedient will thus be teleological—progressively realizing our telos (Greek for “end” or “goal”).

Dignity, Destiny, Freedom

• Also the assertion confirms the genuineness of each man’s freedom. Experience tells us that we are free, in the sense that we make real choices between alternatives and could have chosen differently, and theology agrees. Self-determining freedom of choice is what sets God and his rational creatures apart from, say, birds and bees, as moral beings.

Prepare for that day

• It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.—Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

• There are two days on my calendar—‘Today’ and ‘That Day.’—Martin Luther (1483-1546)

• Christian Destiny does not depend on a lucky roll of the dice. –Alonzo, Prison Ministry, 8/26/2009